ABSTRACT
When the business of the Armada had been settled and after 1,000 Portuguese soldiers had embarked therein, the General Ruy Freyre ordered a gun to be fired as signal to weigh anchor, and proceeded to coast along the shore of Arabia straight to the fortress of Soar which is situated at a distance of 30 leagues from Muscat. He anchored with the whole Armada at a cannon-shot from the fort, since it had no artillery. He despatched a boat to the shore with a white flag, and a message to the Captain of the Persian garrison to say that he had come there with the intention of taking that Fortress; for which purpose he politely requested him to surrender it, because it was not his, neither had the Persians taken it from the Portuguese in fair fight, so that if he would yield it he would grant him any honourable terms that he might ask, whilst if he declined to accept this magnanimous offer by refusing to hand it over within four and twenty hours, then he would put both him and all his men to the edge of the sword. 1
